Westminster as it happened: New rules to tackle sexual harassment as leaked report shows one in five parliamentary staff affected

YouTube has found no evidence of Russian sources using ads on its video-sharing service to attempt to interfere in the UK's 2016 Brexit referendum, a company executive has told MPs.

Juniper Downs, YouTube's global head of public policy, told the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee that the company would be ready to help further investigations into possible Russian attempts to influence votes in Britain.

The committee was taking evidence from internet companies YouTube, Facebook, Google and Twitter in a session of its inquiry into fake news being staged in Washington DC.

The cross-party panel of MPs was also using the trip across the Atlantic to meet senior senators who have been investigating allegations of Russian interference and collusion in the American presidential election won by Donald Trump.

YouTube has previously informed a US Senate committee of 18 channels it discovered which were linked to a suspected Russian content farm known as the Internet Research Agency in St Petersburg.

In September, Facebook bowed to pressure and provided the contents of 3,000 ads bought by a Russian agency to the US committee.

Asked whether any similar searches could be undertaken in relation to UK elections, Ms Downs told the committee: "Absolutely we are happy to co-operate with the UK Government's investigations into whether there was any interference in elections in the UK.

"We have conducted a thorough investigation around the Brexit referendum and found no evidence of interference.

"We looked at all advertisements with any connection to Russia and we found no evidence of our services being used to interfere in the Brexit referendum and we are happy to co-operate with any further efforts."

Pensions Minister Guy Opperman has been told he "really doesn't get" the issues facing women affected by changes to the state pension age, after he ruled out changing the law.

Labour's Carolyn Harris said the strength of feeling among the Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) members and MPs was "extremely angry".

She said: "Having heard the statement, I can only assume that the minister really doesn't get this, because the consequences and the strength of feeling - not just amongst the 1950s women, but amongst colleagues - is extremely angry."

Mr Opperman, giving a statement in the Commons in response to state pension age opposition day debate, said revoking the 1995 Pensions Act would "represent a loss of over £70bn to the public purse".

He continued: "The Government has considered many options and all of the proposals would be wrought with substantial legal problems as well as financial ones.

"Any amendment to the current legislation which creates a new inequality between men and women would unquestionably be highly dubious as a matter of law.

"Causing younger people to bare a greater share of the cost of the pensions system in this way would be unfair and undermine the principle of intergenerational fairness that is integral to our state pension reforms."

The SNP's Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) said there was a "clear majority in this House in support of the 1950s women" and suggested that instead of "just more bluster and passing buck" the Government look at bringing forward proposals to "address what the motion called for".

Plans to increase the state pension age for women between 2010 and 2020 were initially set out in 1995.

But this process was speeded up by the coalition government in 2011, resulting in the state pension age for women due to increase to 65 in November 2018 and to 66 by October 2020.

Campaigners, led by Waspi, argue that women affected by the changes have been required to rethink their retirement plans at relatively short notice and have suffered financial hardship.

Theresa May has been holding talks with top bosses from over 20 Japanese companies, including carmakers Nissan, Honda and Toyota - which employ thousands of people in the UK.

With over 1,000 Japanese businesses in the UK, the country is the UK's 11th largest trading partner, with investment into Britain reaching £46.5 billion in 2016.

The Asian nation has made significant investment in The City of London, with Japanese banks treating the UK capital as a financial gateway to the rest of Europe.

Following the Brexit vote, Tokyo wrote a letter to the British Government urging it to keep free movement of people and remain in the single market and customs union.

It has also called for a transition period for Japanese companies to help shield them from the "unpleasant surprises" that could arise from uncertainty.

Ms May told her guests: "Just today we have seen the Bank of England raise its forecast for UK growth compared with its estimates three months ago.

"As we look ahead of course I recognise that the UK's exit from the European Union is no small undertaking but importantly it does present an opportunity to strike free trade deals around the world and build on our already strong relationship with Japan."

The Prime Minister was the only woman present at the roundtable meeting, the list of the 23 other attendees published by Downing Street revealed

13-year-old Nikki Lilly has done an excellent interview with Theresa May - where she managed to get much more out of the Prime Minister than most journalists.

Ms May admitted you "get used to" negative comments and have to develop a thick skin as she was interviewed by the teenage vlogger.

Looking back on her teenage years, the PM said she "actually enjoyed school", adding: "I enjoyed reading books, I was quite quiet, quite shy. I was an only child, I didn't have any brothers or sisters."

She said she had been interested in politics since she was a teenager, but asked if she wasn't a Prime Minister then she could have continued to work in financial services.

Asked whether she would rather be on Strictly or Bake Off, Ms May said: "I'm not sure I would do very well at either but Strictly has some nice costumes."

Asked if she could dance, Mrs May admitted: "No. This might be an impediment to being on Strictly."

She said had a three-legged poodle as a child, adding: "He was knocked over by a car in front of the house and had to have one of his legs amputated, so he ended up having three legs, but he adapted and it was great."

The Prime Minister, known for her love of shoes, admitted that a particular pair of "bright yellow, high-platform slingbacks" had been one of her biggest fashion mistakes.

A Downing Street spokesman told reporters that the meeting of Theresa May's Brexit "war cabinet" lasted a little more than two hours, but declined to give further details.

Senior ministers had gathered to discuss what they will seek from Britain's future relationship with the European Union.

Brexit Secretary David Davis has spoken about demands from Brussels for a mechanism to block Britain's access to the single market during the transition period.

Here's our earlier story on the row over single market access:

That's it for the politics liveblog today. Thanks for following!